Arch support



Oct. 19, 1937. w. M, SCHOLL ARCH SUPPORT Filed March 25, 1935 a, 8 5 UPZ/zf/zkm 62 2501! Q4, 5;

Patented Oct. 19, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFiCE 2,096,563. ARCHSUPPORT William M. Scholl, Chicago, In.

Application March 25, 1935, Serial No. 12,775.

' Y 1 Claim. (01. 36-71) y to aid in the correction or relief ofdefects, de-

formities and various ailments of the foot, although the device may haveother uses and purposes as will be apparent to one skilled in the.

art.

More specifically, the invention belongs to that class of arch supportswherein a metallic spring plate properly shaped for supporting thelongitudinal arch of the foot is utilized, this plate being providedwith a covering of some suitable material, such as leather, if sodesired. Usually, such arch supporting devices are for dispositionwithin a shoe or other article of footwear, beneath the foot of theuser.

Difiiculty has heretofore been experienced with plates of thischaracter, in that the plate was likely to break after continued usage,such breaking of the plate being what might be termed a tearing. Inother words, the plate would split adjacent a side edge thereof andduring repeated usage, the split would tend to widen until the plate wasworthless for the purpose for which it was intended. Anotherobjectionable feature of these plates resided in the fact that theforward edge thereof would gouge through the insole of a shoe, therebyruining the shoe and rendering the plate much less effective as acorrective medium.

It has also been found in the past that where a leather or equivalentcovering was utilized over H a'metallic spring plate, the coveringmaterial was not sufficiently firmly and tightly connected to theplate'.' This was due in most instances to the disposition of theconnecting means, commonly rivets. A loose or even very slightlyshiftable cover would result in a movement of the foot relatively to theplate at each step causing a rubbing of the foot against theshoe orother irksorne trouble.

Further .difiiculties experienced with plates of this character lay inthe fact that while the plate may give to some extent vertically due toits arch formation, it was not flexible in the manner of a shoe, so thatif the plate projected beneath the oscalcis or heel of the foot, itwould tend to push the wearers heel out'of the shoe at each step. Duringa step, when the wearer was carrying his weight upon the phalanges andmetatarsal heads, and consequently a considerable portion of the weightupon the forward end of the plate, the rear end of the plate wouldelevate,

and such leverage would tend to push the foot out of the shoe.

Difficultywas experienced in properly providing supporting means for theanterior or metatarsal arch of the foot in conjunction with a '5metallic plate for supporting the longitudinal arch. This was centeredmainly in maintaining a supporting memberin proper position, and also inproviding a metatarsal supporting member of proper size together with alongitudinal arch supporting -member of proper size, there being a greatrelative variance between these parts in ailing feet-Z i While the archsupporting devices as a whole are usually designated by different sizesproportionate to the'size of the foot or shoe, such sizing wouldv notlend material aidto the determination of the proper height of thelongitudinal arch supporting means and the metatarsal arch supportingmeans, especially in the event both of these means were essential fortreatment of the same foot. 7

With the foregoing in mind, it is an'object of the present invention toprovide a unitary arch supporting device capable of" overcoming all ofthe aforesaid defects and objections.

Another object of this invention is'the provision of an'arch supportingconstruction including ametallic spring plate structure especiallyarranged to prevent gouging into the insole of a shoe and'also tosubstantially prevent cracking or breaking of the plate.

Still another object of this invention is the provision of a metallicarch supporting unit made up of two separate members permanentlyattached together, the construction being such to substantiallyeliminate the likelihood of breakage of any part of the unit and toprevent gouging into the insole of a shoe. I

It is also an aim'of' this invention to provide an arch supportingstructure, including a metallicplate shaped so as to give the requiredcor rective support and eliminate a leverage action of the plate tendingto push the foot of the user out of the shoe. 7

Also an object 'of this invention is the pro- 45 vision of an archsupporting structure embodying a metallic spring plate and a coveringele- 1 ment disposed thereover, the covering element being united to theplate in such a manner as to be immovable relatively thereto and retaina firm connection with the plate.

Still a further object of this invention is the provision of an archsupporting structure embodying both means for supporting thelongitudinal arch of a foot'and means for supporting 55 the metatarsalarch of a foot, one of the means being arranged to permit variations insize and thickness thereof.

The invention also contemplates the provision of an arch supportingstructure including a metallic spring plate, and means associated withsaid plate for holding metatarsal arch supporting parts in a mannerpermitting the ready removal and replacement of the parts, so that theparts may be interchanged as may. be.deemed desirable.

Still another object of the invention is the provision of an archsupporting structure embodying a metallic element, and a flexiblecovering element, the latter being formed to provide a pocket for theinsertion of meansto support a part of the foot.

While some of the more salient features, characteristics and advantagesof this invention have been above pointed out, others will becomeapparent from the following disclosures."

The invention includes these and other features of construction andcombinations of parts hereinafter described and shown in a preferredform in the drawing, as more particularly indicated by the claim.

On the drawing:

Figure 1 is a top plan View of an arch supporting structure embodyingfeatures and principles of the present invention.

Figure 2 is a bottom plan view of the structure shown in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a central vertical sectional view of the arch supportingstructure taken substan tially as indicated by line IIIIII of Figure 2,looking in the direction of the arrows, and showing in dotted lines afoot positioned upon the arch support.

Figure 4 is a transverse vertical sectional view taken substantially asindicated by the line IV-IV of Figure 1, looking in the directionindicated by the arrows.

As shown on the drawing:

In the illustrated embodiment of this invention, there is seen ametallic spring plate 5 which is bowed upwardly in the center and.provided with the proper configuration for supporting the longitudinalarch of a foot. At the forward end the plate terminates short of thedesired length of the metallic supporting structure utilized in thepresent invention. Across this forward end of the plate 5, a transversemetallic member 6 is disposed, the member 6 being of suflicient width tomake up the desired length of the metallic supporting structure as awhole. The member 6 is preferably secured to the member 5 by means ofwelding, but may be'secured thereto in any other suitable manner so thatboth of the metallic members make up a single, firm integral unit.

It will be noted that the member 6 is provided at the forward edgethereof with an upturned lip l, which effectively prevents any partof'the metallic plate structure from gouging into the insole of a shoe.This member B'not only prevents gouging into the shoe, but in addition,re-' inforces or strengthens the plate 5 in a manner substantiallyeliminating the likelihood of breakage in any part of the compositefabricated plate structure. Of course, a single one-piece platestructure could be provided with substantially the same configuration asthe fabricated plate structure herein shown and described. However, aone-piece structure would lack the reinforcing advantage furnished bythe two-piece structure,

and would be more likely to break. A Weak, deformed or otherwise ailingfoot tends to apply a twisting action upon the supporting structureduring a step, and it being remembered that three to four thousand stepsa day is not an unusual amount, this twisting action will in timefatigue the metallic plate and render the same subject to breakage.

In the present instance, the metallic plate structure is provided with asuitable flexible covering 8 which is shown as comprising a single pieceof leather, but which, of course, may be made of other equivalentmaterial. The leather covering 8, in this instance, is provided with asmooth upper surface while the undersurface is left in a .relativelyroughened or unfinished state so as to grip the insole of a shoe in abetter manner.

The covering is attached to the plate by means of a plurality of rivets9, these rivets preferably being four in number. It will be noted fromthe showing in Figure 2 that the rivets are disposed at relativelywidely spaced intervals and very closely adjacent the margin of theplate 5. By holding the cover 8 in somewhat stretched contact with theplate 5 while placing the rivets and using a number of rivets similar tothat shown, the cover is firmly and securely attached to the platestructure and relative movement therebetween is substantiallyeliminated, even after the cover begins to show the effect of continuedusage.

At the forward end thereof and along the inside edge, as indicated atIn, the cover 8 is skived to afford a better fit of the arch supportingdevice within a shoe. The skiving is left with a relatively roughenedunder surface to aid in preventing slipping.

With references to Figures 2 and 3, it will be noted that the metallicplate 5 is terminated along an edge II which is short of the s calcis ofa foot. A foot I2 is indicated in dotted lines in Figure 3, and it willbe noted that the os calcis or heel portion of this foot rests upon thecover 8, but that the 0s calcis bearing point of the foot is back of theplate 5. Such construction, since the leather cover 8 is flexible,causes the arch support to become self-adjusting so as to assume theproper position in a shoe regardless of the customary variance in theheight of shoe heels. This construction further eliminates a leverageaction of the arch support tending to push the heel of the foot out ofthe shoe during a stride.

Means are also provided in the present invention for giving correctivesupport to the metatarsal arch or the metatarsal region of a foot. Inthis instance, the means are so arranged as to be variable as to sizeand thickness so that a single foot may be given proper support both asto the metatarsal region and as to the longitudinal arch by the samedevice, without necessitating the construction of a special device builtfor a single foot.

. In this instance, the forward portion of the cover 8 is splitrearwardly any desirable distance, a distance back to the point l3(Figure 3) being suitable. The side marginal portions of the leatherflap resulting from the split are glued or otherwise secured together,leaving the front open to provide access to the pocket l4 (Figure 3) soprovided. To insure the tightness of the pocket [4, a line of stitchingI is passed through both flaps of the cover 8 and this line of stitchingis preferably so run as to define a pocket of the general shape of theparticular pad desired. Within the pocket a suitable metatarsalsupporting pad l6 of any desirable cushioning material, such as softrubber, is loosely inserted. Consequently, this pad is very readilyremovable from the pocket, and in the choosing of an arch supportingdevice for a particular foot, after a device of the proper size and withthe proper height or configuration in the metallic plate structure hasbeen selected, it is a simple expedient to insert a pad of the properthickness and size in the pocket 44 for that particular foot.Accordingly, many arch supporting structures of the character of thisinvention may be kept on hand at all times and very readily made to fitsubstantially any foot.

In order toinsure the smooth surface for contact with the underside ofthe lower flap of the split portion of the cover 8, the joint betweenthe plate 5 and the member 6 is covered with a strip ll of any desirablematerial, adhesive tape or the like being suitable.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that I have provided an archsupporting structure embodying a metallic spring plate structure whichwill not gouge into the insole of a shoe, will not tend to force a footout of a shoe, and which is substantially not subject to breakage. Itwill further be apparent that the arch supporting structure isself-adjusting for various types of footwear and. capable of supportingdifferent portions of the foot, the arrangement being such as to permitvariations in size and thickness of certain supporting parts of thestructure. It is also to be noted that the entire structure is simple,easily assembled and economical to manufacture.

I am aware that many changes may be made and numerous details ofconstruction may be varied through a Wide range without departing fromthe principles of this invention, and I, therefore, do not purposelimiting the patent granted hereon otherwise than necessitated by theprior art and the scope of the appended claim.

I claim as my invention:

In an arch support, a metallic arch supporting plate, a metallic stripdisposed transversely across the forward end of said plate and securedthereto against the undersurface thereof, said strip having a portionextending forwardly of said plate and upturned in a manner to preventgouging into a shoe, a flexible cover overlying said plate and strip,and means covering the joint between said plate and strip disposedbeneath said flexible cover. r

, WILLIAM M. SCI-IOLL.

